Accolades

Rarely is such personality such fun to drink. This is a bonza red wine. Light, frisky, meaty, polished and bursting to impress. It’s chewy with tannin, pepper-spiced, sprayed with iodine and run with cherried fruit. Bullseye. 94 points. (Campbell Mattinson)

Winemaker's Notes

MONDEUSE

Mondeuse is a variety that has fascinated us for many years, but we didn’t get a chance to plant any until 2010, and even then the area planted was tiny. The 2018 vintage is our fourth release, and the area has been increased significantly (when the current grafting is completed we’ll have 0.602 Ha). We prefer to pronounce it as the Savoyards do, rhyming with furs. Mondeuse (noire) is the progeny of mondeuse blanche and the obscure variety tressot noir, just as shiraz is the progeny of mondeuse blanche and the obscure dureza, so that mondeuse and shiraz are half-siblings.

2018 VINTAGE

The 2017-2018 was the second-warmest season on record behind 2016, but due to consistently warm and dry conditions rather than any extreme heat. Timing of budburst and harvest were fairly normal. Conditions for vine growth and development were good and disease pressure was low. Weather during vintage was exceptional, consistently warm and dry apart from one downpour in late February which caused little trouble. Warm sunny days were balanced by cool nights giving a high diurnal temperature range. Quality is exciting across the board, with the later ripening varieties perhaps benefitting the most.

WINEMAKING

Hand picked 10-24 April 2018 at an average 13.0 Bé and wild-fermented in open vats with hand plunging. Matured in older barriques, unfined and lightly filtered. Bottled December 2018, 299 dozen made. Alcohol 13.5% by volume. Vegan friendly?: Yes.